about Theatre of Echo / Theater des Nachhalls

Trilogy for two pianos/Trilogie für zwei Flügel played live, is both music and narrative, a theatre of listening that makes transience and unstoppability tangible. The work transcends the boundaries of scene, concert and radio. Additional video material opens up a whole new dimension: the audiovisual installation „Theatre of Echo“ is the logical continuation of the concert situation. The gestures anchored in the composition are enlarged, transformed and removed from their context, spun further and reappear in idiosyncratic, alien and fictional situations.

While the music can be heard as a 5.1 surround mix, the audience wanders through a room with 3 glass cabinets on white pedestals on the floor. These showcases each contain 180cmx70cm screens on which the videos can be viewed from a bird’s eye view; a mirrored back wall blurs the boundaries to the room. The showcases are reminiscent of glass coffins as well as museum showcases. All films are shown simultaneously, so the audience does not know which of the three videos is intended for which set. The play with synchronicities between music and image can only be guessed at at the end through the musical connections – therefore, since the music cannot tell without its live performers, which gesture (e.g. the slap on the chest to trigger a contact microphone, a slow waving to the audience as the end point of a gesture of tension) evokes a certain sound or silence. This concert installation has a beginning and an echo, the audience can take a seat on benches, change position, keep distance from each other, depending on the room design.